Mother Of The Craft - Part 2

Here's where I left you in the story of Elizabeth Zimmermann. 
"Her most famous 'unvention,' which was what she called the techniques she devised, was her method for making a sweater."

So...here we go, Part 2.

"First, she abandoned straight needles for circular ones. [...] Then she used mathematics, a subject deemed too weighty for women of her era, to devise formulas that guaranteed a perfectly fitted garment. [...] This 'unvention' allows a knitter to modify basic design to her taste by adding small patterns, switching yarns, or changing stitches, without worrying that the finished garment would hang from her shoulders like a sack or squeeze her chest like a vise.
[...] As her passion for her self-described obsession deepened, so did her exasperation with the patterns of the day. They were rigid, as if pattern designers were drill sergeants and knitters were new recruits going through boot camp. There was no room for creativity. No room for a woman--because virtually all knitters then were women--to express herself. The message was clear: the knitter--the woman--was supposed to follow, not lead, because the designer--the authority--knew best. But Zimmermann had an artist's eye and the assurance to strike out on her own. Instead of following directions, she modified them and ended up creating her own patterns. She broke ranks and showed others how to do the same." 

Here's a photo of Elizabeth Zimmermann. I think she would have been a great addition to the Thursday afternoons in the Loopy Lounge.